To grill or not to grill? That's the question many consumers are asking amidst reports that one of America's most popular cooking methods is linked with a higher risk for cancer.
While it's true that grilled and charred meats can be risky, you don't have to shut down your grill. Simple cooking and preparation strategies and even the side dishes you serve can dramatically lower and even eliminate the risks associated with grilling.
An estimated four out of five Americans own a grill, and sales in 2006 jumped 15 percent compared to the previous year, according to the Hearth Patio and Barbecue Association. Although Labor Day weekend is one of the busiest grilling events of the year, more than half the people who own grills now use them year-round.
Most people think of grilled meats as a healthier option than other cooking methods because the food isn't fried or breaded and the fat drips into the grill rather than staying on the food. But while you are saving calories, you may be taking on other risks.
Grilling creates two risky types of chemical reactions. The first occurs when fat drips onto the coals, forming carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAH. The best way to prevent this is to avoid flaming and charring food. If it happens, the solution is to scrape off the black stuff.
A bigger concern may be the chemical reaction that happens inside meats, chicken and fish grilled at high temperatures and for long periods. Compounds in these foods react at high temperatures to create heterocyclic amines or HCA. In laboratory studies, HCAs trigger breast, colon and prostate tumors in rats and mice. About 30 epidemiological studies have shown a link between high consumption of grilled or well-done foods and cancer, says James Felton, senior biomedical scientist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif.
A May study in the medical journal Epidemiology, for instance, showed that postmenopausal women who often ate grilled, barbecued and smoked meats had a 47 percent higher risk for breast cancer than low meat eaters.
While studies show the highest risk comes with eating well-done meats several times a week, the problem is we simply don't know whether there is any "dose" at which grilled foods are entirely safe. Researchers at Livermore found effects of the chemicals in genetic material when study participants were given the equivalent of just two well-done hamburgers.
But the strategies to improve the safety of grilling are surprisingly simple:
— Microwave foods for about a minute before grilling. Pre-cooking means the food cooks faster on the grill and isn't exposed to high temperatures as long. More important, the amino acids and creatine come out in the juice in the microwave, so no chemical reaction takes place once you put the food on the grill. A well-done hamburger that is microwaved for a minute first has about 10 times fewer HCA's than a burger cooked entirely on the grill, says Dr. Felton.
— Eat lots of veggies with your grilled foods. Grilled veggies give you the great grilled flavor but don't produce the cancer-causing chemicals triggered in meat grilling. (You still need to scrape off the black stuff.) And studies show that eating cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli as a side dish to grilled meats changes the way the body metabolizes the chemicals created in grilling.
— Use marinades. Marinating foods sets up a barrier against heat that lowers the creation of HCAs. Use a marinade with less oil, so less fat drips into the coals.
— Flip your food often. This lowers the temperature, lessening the chance of the risky chemical reaction triggered by high temperatures.
— Cook red meat medium or rare. The biggest health risk comes when meat is cooked well done.
Finally, it's important to note that the risk comes mostly from cooking at high temperatures, whether it's from your oven, frying pan or backyard grill. When cooking indoors, Dr. Felton suggests cooking meats at 350 degrees or lower or using a slow cooker.